Wonder Woman
"It is our sacred duty to defend the world" -Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is an [[Amazons|'Amazon']] warrior princess and one of the most powerful superheroes in the DC Universe. The daughter of [[Queen Hippolyta|'Hippolyta']]' '''and [[Zeus|'Zeus']], she was given power by the [[Gods of Olympus|'Gods']] to fight against evil in all its forms. Although she was raised entirely by women on the island of [[Themyscira|'Themyscira']], she was sent as an ambassador to the Man's World, spreading their idealistic message of strength and love. Wonder Woman fights crime and acts as a positive role model for women everywhere. Her equipment includes the [[Lasso of Truth|'Lasso of Truth']], [[Bracelets of Submission|'magic gauntlets']], and an [[Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet|'invisible jet']]. In the secret identity she has adopted to become closer to humanity, she is 'Diana Prince, a government agent for the [[Department of Metahuman Affairs|'''Department of Metahuman Affairs]]. Wonder Woman is also a founding member of the Justice League of America. She has also been a member of the [[Star Sapphire Corps|'Star Sapphire Corps']]. Biography Early Life Diana was born 100 years ago on the newly-created island of [[Themyscira|'Themyscira']] to [[Zeus|'Zeus']] and [[Queen Hippolyta|'Hippolyta']], the Queen of the Amazons, mere months after the War of the Gods. Zeus intended for the child to one day grow strong enough to defeat Ares, the God of War. Fearful for her daughter's safety, Hippolyta lied to Diana about her true parentage, instead telling Diana that she'd sculpted her from clay and prayed to Zeus to bring her to life. Diana would believe this story for most of her life. As the only child on the island, Diana grew bored by her lessons. She began to take an active interest in the Amazons' combat training, despite her mother's stern refusal of it. She often ran off from her tutors to watch the Amazons train. Her aunt Antiope, General of the Amazons, was aware the true nature of Diana's background. Knowing that one day she would have to face Ares, and caring so deeply for her well-being, she began to train the young princess in Secret. Years later, their deceit was discovered by Hippolyta. Angry at Antiope for defying her decision, Hippolyta sent Diana back to her room so that she could speak to her sister alone. Antiope reasoned with the Queen, reminding her that Ares was alive and would come for Diana some day. Hippolyta accepted this with some difficulty, and ordered Antiope to train Diana harder than any Amazon before her, until she was better than even Antiope herself, the Amazons' fiercest warrior. Thus, with the blessing of her mother, Diana formally began extensive training in all forms of Amazonian combat. Over the years, she became a formidable warrior. During a training session observed by Hippolyta, Diana sparred against her fellow warriors, demonstrating her weapons expertise and defeating each of them swiftly. Her final opponent was Antiope herself. The two fought with all their might. Diana managed to disarm Antiope and looked toward her mother for approval. Antiope seized the opportunity to push Diana to the ground and pick up her sword, admonishing her for letting her her guard down. As Antiope slashed at her and forced her backwards, Diana instinctively brought her arms together to block the attack. She clashed her arm gauntlets together, resulting in her unleashing a powerful shock-wave that sent Antiope flying back and left all spectating Amazons there, including Diana herself, in complete shock. A shocked Diana apologized to Antiope and abruptly left the training session. Wonder Woman Diana lived a serene and joyful life until the intervention of [[Steve Trevor|'Steve Trevor']] upon the island of [[Themyscira|'Themyscira']]. A tournament was held among the Amazons to determine the representative that would return to Man's World along with Trevor. Diana defeated the other Amazons but was tasked with the final challenge, deflecting a bullet fired from a gun by her mother. After winning the contest Diana was awarded a suit of armor and the [[Lasso of Truth|'Lasso of Truth']] and left for the United States, though upon her arrival she was arrested and detained in a cell. Falling into despair, Diana was visited by the Gods of Olympus in their animal forms: a peacock, deer, owl, mouse, eagle, dove and tortoise, who granted her the gifts of strength, speed, endurance, empathy and flight. Shortly after coming to the outside world, Diana interrupted a terrorist attack and was named "Wonder Woman" by the press. She continued to use her gifts to fight for peace and justice in Man's World. She later fought who she thought to be [[Ares|'Ares']], though in truth it was [[Phobos|'Phobos']] and [[Deimos|'Deimos']] who were disguised as their father. Fearing that she would eventually discover the truth and free Ares from his prison beneath Themyscira, the Gods of Olympus sent Phobos and Deimos to erase all memory of Themyscira from Diana's mind. The twin gods were unable to erase the memory, so instead they later implanted false memories regarding her home to deceive Diana, leading to a completely separate origin story and causing her to hallucinate new adventures. Diana was unaware that her memories had been tampered with, and believed the falsifications until her search for the truth led her to Ares himself years later. False Origin In her false memories, the Amazons traditionally procreated by [[Rape|'raping']] and then murdering sailors who happened too close to their island. Hippolyta was barren, and legend told that Diana was born of her mother's strong desire for a child, a lump of clay brought to life in the form of a girl; the perfect Amazon, as she was born of no man. The truth, though, was that Hippolyta had had an affair with Zeus, and Diana's real parentage was hidden in order to protect the Queen and her daughter from the wrath of Zeus' notoriously jealous wife [[Hera|'Hera']]. Unbeknownst to Diana, her mother also gave birth to her twin, a brother named [[Jason|'Jason']]. World War II She stayed in this position fighting crime alongside the [[Justice Society of America|'Justice Society of America']] as their first female member though she was relegated to subservient duties performing as an actual Secretary for the Justice Society despite her beyond superhuman strength and abilities. Diana rejoined the team when it reformed as the All Star Squadron and expanded. In June, 1942, she she discovered that the United States was planning to create the atomic bomb and attempted to eliminating all nuclear weapons. Diana continued to perform as an open crime fighter after World War Two and resisted being recalled home to Paradise Island after the war, preferring to give up her immortality than leave her life of independence and personal identity. 1950s During the 1950s, Diana was able to continue operating as a super-powered crime fighter as she had admitted to having no secret identity and stated herself to be a legendary Amazon, unlike many of the other masked heroes who were forced to either reveal their secret private identity or stop operating by the Federal government's Committee on Un-American Activities. This of course was not truly accurate on Diana's part as she continued to use her alias of Diana Prince. It was during those years that Diana began to explore fully her romantic interests in her long-time crime fighting partner, Col. Steve Trevor. After a period of courtship, Diana revealed her alias of Diana Prince to Trevor. Initially taken back by the revelation, Trevor and Diana married. Diana later retired from active duty of the US Navy and decide to become a housewife where she raised their daughter, [[Fury|'Hippolyte "Lyta" Trevor']] named after Diana's mother. Later Life Diana rejoined the reformed Justice Society of America in the 1960s, though she mostly preferred to spend her time raising her daughter as a stay at home mother. Depowered but never Powerless Wonder Woman then surrendered her powers to remain in "Man's World" (partly to assist Steve Trevor, who was facing criminal charges) rather than accompany her fellow Amazons into another dimension so they could "restore their magick." Now a mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince soon came under the wing of a [[Chinese|'Chinese']] mentor known as [[I-Ching|'I-Ching']]. Under I-Ching's guidance, Diana was trained to use her body as a weapon, learning martial arts and weapons skills, and proceeded to undertake secret agent-style adventures. During one of these exploits, Diana came in conflict with the evil [[Doctor Cyber|'Doctor Cyber']] and after a few encounters, their quarrel ended with Cyber's apparent demise after she tried to steal Diana's body for herself. Comeback After two years of being powerless, Wonder Woman's powers were finally restored and she started using her battle suit again. Following the return of the "original" Wonder Woman, a major adventure consisted of the heroine's attempt to be readmitted to the Justice League of America, the organization she quit after giving up her powers. Eventually, Wonder Woman started working at the United Nations in her secret identity as Diana Prince. In this new position, she was aware of many critical situations that required immediate attention of Wonder Woman. When Diana was informed about an international criminal called Dimitrios, she went out looking for the criminal as Wonder Woman and with the unsuspected assistance from Batman, they captured the crook along with other criminals, taking them to justice.9 She then worked with Batman to stop a French criminal called [[Flashback|'Flashback']] from disrupting important business between [[France|'France']] and [[America|'America']]. Justice League Upon becoming a super-heroine, Wonder Woman became a founding member of the [[Justice League|'Justice League']]. Her ambassadorial duties required her to visit [[Washington D.C.|'Washington D.C.']], with army officer [[Steve Trevor|'Steve Trevor']] as her liaison. When Parademons stormed Metropolis, Wonder Woman resolved to defend the city, meeting the heroes [[Superman|'Superman']], [[Batman|'Batman']], [[The Flash|'Flash']], [[Green Lantern|'Green Lantern']], [[Aquaman|'Aquaman']] and [[Martian Manhunter|'Martian Manhunter']]' '''also known as J'onn J'onzz. J'onn attempted to warn them against the evil alien conqueror [[Darkseid|'Darkseid']]. Unfortunately, J'onn's warnings were meaningless, as Darkseid had already arrived. Although Darkseid had initially beat them without effort, Green Lantern rallied them in order to confront Darkseid as a team. Wonder Woman proved crucial in Darkseid's defeat, stabbing him in one of his eyes to prevent him from using his [[Omega Beams|'Omega Beams']]. This gave Superman and Silas enough time to send Darkseid back into his home-world. Her apprentice and pupil [[Donna Troy|'Donna Troy']], then Wonder Girl, was a founding member of the [[Teen Titans|'Teen Titans']]. Diana, together with Batman, Flash, and Aquaman, supported the teens and encouraged them to team up and work together with the Justice League. '''Mortal and Immortal Challenges' After returning to Boston, Wonder Woman agreed to hire [[Myndi Mayer|'Myndi Mayer']] to be her publicist, with the aim of getting her image out to the world at large. She spent the next several months touring the world, conducting interviews and learning a lot about modern culture. She also initially met most of the Justice League around this time, and after meeting [[Superman|'Superman']], she was instantly enamored with him. Wonder Woman gathered the attention of [[Cheetah|'Barbara Mivera']], the Cheetah, who secretly desired to steal the Lasso of Truth from Diana. She lied to Wonder Woman about having found the lost Girdle of Antiope to get close to her, but after touching the Lasso her truth was made clear. Diana was frustrated and enraged over her naive trust of Minerva. That same night, Barbara decided to take the Lasso by force and attacked Wonder Woman as the Cheetah. Diana managed to fight her off, and decided it was time to return home to Paradise Island again. The gods were pleased with Diana's work—one was a little too pleased, however. [[Zeus|'Zeus']] offered to make Wonder Woman a goddess if she agreed to sleep with him. Diana refused, and Zeus decreed she must be punished for refusing his advances. The other gods managed to deflect the full brunt of Zeus's wrath. He decided that Wonder Woman must pass the Challenge of the Gods. He ordered her to go into the pits beneath Paradise Island and retrieve his fondest treasure, and Diana accepted the challenge. Hippolyta was not pleased, and though she could do nothing to stop Diana from descending into the depths, she did resolve to follow after her (fighting past [[Philippus|'Philippus']] first). Wonder Woman battled all number of evil monsters in the pits, from the [[Hydra|'Hydra']] to the [[Echidna|'Echidna']], but got some help from the spirit of Diana Trevor. [[Diana Rockwell|'Diana Trevor']], the mother of Steve Trevor, revealed that she had been an Air Force Pilot who crash landed on the island and then died helping the Amazons in battle. It was for her that Diana was named, and it was her standard that was used to fashion the Wonder Woman costume. Hippolyta caught up with her daughter, and together they fought even more mythological beasts until they discovered Zeus's treasure: his imprisoned demigod son, [[Heracles|'Heracles']]. The demigod had been changed to stone and made to bear the weight of the island for thousands of years for his actions against the Amazons. Diana and Hippolyta freed him, and brought him back to the surface. Faced with his punishment of thousands of years, Heracles was repentant and begged forgiveness for what had happened between he and the Amazons. The Amazons forgave him at last, and after a celebration including a romantic reconciliation with Hippolyta, Heracles returned to Olympus. The gods were pleased with Diana. Hippolyta was pleased as well, and ordered her daughter to return to Man's World and continue her mission. Once Wonder Woman was back, Myndi Mayer arranged a publicity stunt, this time at a fair. However, things took a negative turn when the first [[Silver Swan|'Silver Swan']], Valerie Beaudry, arrived on the scene. Wonder Woman battled the Swan along the coast, but failed to capture her. Returning to Boston, Diana stayed with Vanessa while her mother was in Greece. She found herself distracted more and more with thoughts of Superman, eventually asking Myer to arrange a meeting between the two. Diana and Superman had their "date," which included a battle to free Olympus from the grip of [[Darkseid|'Darkseid']] after he had laid waste to it. Superman and Wonder Woman decided it would be best if they just remained friends, but Superman trusted Diana enough with the secret of his dual identity. Wonder Woman became one of the few people who would come to affectionately refer to him as "Kal." The gods decided it was time to take a vacation (or "Cosmic Migration" as they called it) even as Diana decided to go with her friends to Greece, to see the ancient home of her people. She met Julia Kapetelis's parents, but felt a strange sensation in regards to one of the smaller islands that was long said to have a bad history. As it turns out, [[Circe|'Circe']] made that island her home, and she sent her minions to capture Diana and drag her back in chains. Circe revealed her whole history—including the fact that she murdered [[Antiope|'Antiope']], Hippolyta's sister. Circe also revealed the prophecy she learned from [[Hecate|'Hecate']], who was responsible for her power, and her belief that if either Circe or Diana kills the other then the spirit of Hecate will consume them. Circe resolved to use a spell that would degenerate Diana back in the clay from which she was created. Even with the help of her friends, Wonder Woman only carried the day with the timely intervention of Hermes, who had not yet left Olympus. When Diana returned to Boston, she learned of the death of Myndi Mayer—someone had apparently shot her in the face with a shotgun in her own home. A man named Steve London was framed for the death, but Diana learned that the man responsible for killing her was a man named [[Skeeter Boyd|'Skeeter Boyd']]. Skeeter died trying to escape from Wonder Woman, grabbing hold of an electrified fence and frying himself. He had not, in fact, actually killed Myndi—an overdose of alcohol and cocaine had killed her before he delivered the blast. Diana was left to question how something like this could happen, ignorant of the effects of addiction and drug overdose. Called back to Paradise Island, Diana was summoned by the gods to come to Olympus with Hippolyta and [[Menalippe|'Menalippe']], which was still in ruins from Darkseid's rampage. The gods announced their decision to depart from the Earth, possibly forever, possibly not. They needed Diana's help to shatter what was left of Olympus so they could move on and allow the healing to begin. Their destiny now in their own hands, Diana called for a vote among the people whether or not they should open the gates of the island and allow men to come there. The Amazons voted yes, and Wonder Woman returned to Boston to invite Julia and Vanessa to be the first guests. Shadows of the Past Diana was shocked when [[Hermes|'Hermes']] showed up in Boston. He explained that he believed the journey of the rest of the gods was folly and sought to assert himself, as a god, in Boston. He won a few converts through bribes and healing, despite Diana's protests. Hermes was tricked, however, by [[Phobos|'Phobos']] and the immortal gorgon [[Euryale|'Euryale']] into unleashing [[Ixion|'Ixion the Assassin']] from his prison beneath the Earth. Ixion went on a rampage across Boston, killing hundreds and damaging the old U.S. Constitution. Hermes sent Diana a supernatural call for help and she arrived just in time to confront Phobos, whom she bound with her Lasso. After attacking Ixion and flying him out of the city to prevent further death and destruction, Hermes managed to free himself and regain the Caudecus, the source of most of his godly power, and decapitated Eurayle. Meanwhile Ixion continued his battle with Diana, but even he proved to be no match for her superior strength. He told Diana about his thousands of years of torture and pleaded with her to kill him in order to end his suffering. Hermes then arrived on the scene with Phobos in tow, using his Caudecus to bind the monster, intending to imprison him once again. Phobos gloated to Diana that the only place Ixion could be properly imprisoned was beneath Theymscira. Diana was horrified, but before the matter could be resolved further, a squadron of jet fighters appeared on the scene. Seeing a chance to finally be freed of his suffering, Ixion broke free and charged the approaching planes, who then opened fire and killed him in response. Diana blamed herself for what happened, as she had not taken a stronger position against Hermes when he first arrived. Cheetah decided to resurface, once again with the intention of stealing the Lasso of Truth. She used a pair of [[Khunds|'Khunds']], still on Earth after the invasion, to create a diversion so she could steal the Lasso. Suspecting that Dr. Barbara Minerva stole the lariat (but not knowing yet that she and Cheetah are one and the same) Wonder Woman traveled to Minerva's home in England (this coincided with a trip to the first meeting of [[Justice League Europe|'Justice League Europe']], though Diana decided not to remain part of the team at this time). Minerva's manservant, [[Chuma|'Chuma']], poisoned Diana and proceeded to tell her the whole story of how Minerva became Cheetah. The poison had no effect on Diana, however, and she tracked Cheetah to Egypt where out in the hidden city of [[Bana-Mighdall|'Bana-Mighdall']] she found the [[Amazons of Bana-Mighdall|'lost colony of Amazons']]. Their leader, [[Anahid|'Queen Anahid']], incapacitated Diana with a poisonous dart and locked her away. The high priestess tried to kill Wonder Woman but died when Diana tossed her across the room and she ended up swallowing the same poison dart Queen Anahid used on Diana earlier. Diana broke free and realized that Cheetah would be on the prowl that very night—but she was still groggy from the poison. The mercenary Amazons had been hired to pacify a nearby village. Armed for war, Wonder Woman fought them back and was attacked by Cheetah. After a vicious battle, Wonder Woman defeated her adversary and locked her up (Chuma was slain by gunfire during the fight). Queen Anahid, mortally injured by Cheetah during the battle, died after commanding that Diana be spared. The Amazons called off the raid and told her their history. They were indeed the descendants of Antiope, Hippolyta's sister, though they were not immortal. They had in their possession the other [[Golden Girdle of Gaea|'Golden Girdle of Gaea']] and were a nation of mercenaries and had been since Antiope's death. [[Phthia|'Phthia']], blaming [[Theseus|'Theseus']] and all men for her mother's death, was their first leader. The city was then attacked by Hermes, who learned of and was enraged by the existence of the rogue Amazons and their possession of the Golden Girdle. Diana managed to convince him to cease his attack. One of the Amazons, [[Faruka|'Faruka']], decided to use all the chaos to try and seize power, using an Amazon called [[Shim'tar|'Shim'tar']]. With Hermes weakened, Diana fought Shim'tar alone, battling to a standstill. The Egyptian government, outraged over the massacre at one of their villages, ordered an air strike on the hidden city. Not even Hermes was able to intervene and the entire city was destroyed, leaving Wonder Woman, Cheetah, and Hermes alone in the desert. Wonder Woman recovered both her Lasso and the Golden Girdle. After a brief stop back in Boston, Diana returned the Girdle to her mother on Themyscira. The time had come for Themyscira to welcome the world more openly. Twelve delegates were chosen: Asmund Lindel, the [[Norway|'Norway']] delegate to the U.N.; [[Maritza Nitumbe|'Maritza Nitumbe']], a [[South Africans|'South African']] botanist; [[Phyllis Haller|'Phyllis Haller']], an [[Americans|'American']] bestselling feminist author and sociologist; [[Vladimir Morakov|'Vladimir Morakov']], a [[Russians|'Russian']] neurosurgeon; [[Robert Cantwell|'Robert Cantwell']], a Scottish history teacher and war veteran; [[Benjamin Hecht|'Rabbi Benjamin Hecht']] and Unitarian minister [[Alan Withersppon|'Reverand Alan Withersppon']], the only two religious leaders to respond to Diana's invitation (the Vatican was silent); [[Lin Koo Teng|'Lin Koo Teng']], a survivor of the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989|'Tiananmen Square massacre']]; [[Rovo Quashi|'Rovo Quashi']], a blind man from [[Ethiopia|'Ethiopia']]; [[Henri Tibet|'Henri Tibet']], a paraplegic architect from [[Canada|'Canada']]; [[Felix Zumac|'Felix Zumac']], a Haitian zoologist and anthropologist; and [[Lois Lane|'Lois Lane']], everybody's favorite reporter from the [[Daily Planet|'Daily Planet']]. Hermes, shedding his immortality, granted Diana the ability to use her winged sandals to take the delegates to Themyscira. The delegates all arrived to a magnificent greeting by the Amazons. No one suspected that [[Eris|'Eris']], daughter of Ares, was plotting discord. She nearly succeeded in turning everyone against one another, but her plans were discovered and thwarted. The delegates all delivered their favorable report to the U.N. while the Amazons commenced the cleanup. Julia was on a dig overseas and Vanessa was at summer camp. Hermes, shorn of some of his divinity, had been staying with Steve Trevor. Wonder Woman had her second run in with the Silver Swan, now more powerful than ever, when Valerie was attempting to escape from her "benefactors." Wonder Woman and [[Etta Candy|'Etta Candy']] were captured by Henry Cobb Armbruster's thugs, but working together they were able to break free. Using her Lasso on Armbruster, Diana was able to unveil the depth of his lies to Valerie. The Swan walked away, no longer the villain. With Themyscira known to the world and the gods departed from Earth, Queen Hippolyta decided it was indeed time to take a more active role. The Amazons removed their [[Bracelets of Submission|'bracelets']] and decided to come to Man's World and see all that it had to offer. [[Hipployta|'Hipployta']], [[Menalippe|'Menalippe']], [[Philippus|'Philippus']], and other Amazons came to stay at a hotel in [[Gotham City|'Gotham City']]. Diana encountered Hermes again, who had rebuilt a temple unto himself and proceeded to flirt with Wonder Woman. This Hermes turned out to be [[Mercury|'Mercury']], and Wonder Woman had to help the true Hermes battle his "evil twin" at their temple. Mercury was able to win the battle, taunting the humbled Hermes as he departed the field. Hippolyta and the others decided they needed to present themselves as more than just an extension of Wonder Woman, and Steve Trevor told her that he needed some space as well, as Etta was growing jealous of the two of them. When [[Vanessa Kapatelis|'Vanessa']] also got angry at Diana for being late to her birthday party and even [[Julia Deneiros|'Julia']] wanted some space, Diana decided to return home to recharge. While at home, Diana was contacted in her sleep by [[Harmonia|'Harmonia']] as well as [[Pariah|'Pariah']], both of whom offered warnings about an impending crisis. After waking from this nightmare Diana seemed to drift into another one, involving a badly beaten and injured Hermes. Diana suspected that [[Circe|'Circe']] was behind her ill fortune lately. Back in Boston, Wonder Woman encountered Hermes—who announced his intention to destroy Boston. Diana told him she would never let it be so—but from Hermes' point of view, it was the Amazon who was threatening the city. They began to battle one another, unaware that they were under the illusions of [[Doctor Psycho|'Doctor Psycho']], who had been posing as a therapist for Vanessa. Diana and Hermes stopped short of killing one another when one of Vanessa's teachers interrupted the insane villain. Diana and Hermes, relieved of their delusions, joined together to track down their tormentor. Realizing that Psycho had been twisting the mind of Vanessa as well, Diana was able to connect her thoughts with Vanessa and track him down in his lair. There she found Vanessa's teacher, whose unborn baby had been tortured by Dr. Psycho as well. Meanwhile, the Amazons were attacked in their hotel by masked assassins, who also murdered the police officers at the building and framed it on the Amazons themselves. The word quickly spread, and by the time Wonder Woman had taken the injured teacher to the hospital, the police tried to arrest her for murder. Diana protested their innocence while alerting the police to the location of Dr. Psycho, whom she left tied up with her Lasso. However, when the police arrived, he was no where to be found; the Lasso was tied to a chair but no one was there. Before the Boston P.D. took her in, Diana convinced them to allow her to help deliver the child, which she successfully did. A news report indicated that armed Amazons broke into the hotel in Gotham and slaughtered police and civilians alike. Wonder Woman allowed herself to be taken into custody where she learned the horrible tally: Hippolyta was missing, Philippus was gravely injured, Menalippe and [[Epione|'Epione']] had been arrested (the former with injuries), [[Mnemosyne|'Mnemosyne']] and [[Timandra|'Timandra']] had been arrested in other cities, [[Pythia|'Pythia']] and [[Euboea|'Euboea']] were unaccounted for, and Hellene had been killed. There was also an unidentified Amazon who was killed at the hotel, prompting a scare that there could be dozens of murderous Amazons on the loose. Vanessa came to the police station with news her mother was missing. Diana managed to convince the police to let her see the unidentified Amazon. The dead woman was unknown to her, but the tell-tale claw marks raking her body led her to believe she was killed by the Cheetah. [[James Gordon|'Commissioner Gordon']] reluctantly ordered Diana arrested, but Diana, fearful for the safety of her friends, broke out of the jail. Recovering her Lasso, she freed Menalippe from her hospital before catching up with Pythia and Euboea and taking them all back to Paradise Island. War of the Gods At home, many of her Amazon sisters were crying out for vengeance, believing their queen to have been murdered. Diana asserted herself as the rightful leader of the Amazons, no matter what they decided to do. As they were debating, an oracle announced that the gods had returned. No sooner did she do so when Diana was summoned to [[Mount Olympus|'Mount Olympus']]. [[Gods of Olympus|'The gods']] announced that something was terribly wrong with the order of things. They too had seen [[Pariah|'Pariah']] and did not understand his importance. Zeus had expended much of his power just summoning Hermes from the Earth, and it had taken the combined energy of the rest of the pantheon to summon Diana there. They told her that [[Donna Troy|'Donna Troy']] had also turned up. Just then, a new set of gods emerged—it was the [[Gods of Rome|'Roman pantheon']], led by [[Jupiter|'Jupiter']] himself. The Roman gods announced that they had a human champion that would battle against the Greeks' Wonder Woman—that champion was none other than [[Shazam|'Shazam']]. Diana was forced to defend herself against a possessed Captain Marvel while Hermes and Mercury engaged in round two. Wonder Woman defeated Captain Marvel, while Circe began to unveil her master plan, unleashing chaos across the globe. While Wonder Woman was on Olympus, [[Heracles|'Heracles']] traveled to Paradise Island. Once there, earthquakes began to rock the island. Traveling beneath it, Heracles found [[Atlas|'Atlas']] with the island on his shoulders. This was the Roman Atlas, and he mistook Heracles for [[Hercules|'Hercules']]. Back in the U.S., Mnemosyne, Timandra, and Epione were being transported by a military escort that was attacked by Amazons—but no Amazons the three prisoners recognized. These Amazons left a few survivors in the escort to tell the tale, then gassed the three prisoners and took them with them. Diana, after her victory over Captain Marvel, was transported back to Boston. Diana ended up at the house of a police inspector, [[Edward Indelicato|'Edward Indelicato']], whom she was friends with. She recounted her story and Edward agreed to help her. Diana, sensing that [[Circe|'Circe']] truly was to blame for all the madness going on, decided that she had to track down [[Doctor Fate|'Doctor Fate']] for assistance, who gave her a spell that made her invisible so she could return to Boston. The spell wore off when she (literally) ran into the [[Silver Swan|'Silver Swan']], which was dumb luck as Valerie had been looking for Diana to give her some guidance. Diana had little to give, however, as distracted as she was by everything else going on. A call to [[Black Canary|'Black Canary']] put Diana in contact with [[Batman|'Batman']], whom she asked to retrieve the missing Themysciran goblet that she believed would help exonerate her people for the massacre in Gotham. Diana then banded together with [[Zatanna|'Zatanna']], [[Phantom Stranger|'Phantom Stranger']], [[Spectre|'Spectre']], [[Doctor Fate|'Doctor Fate']], [[The Flash (Wally West)|'Flash (Wally West)']], [[Madame Xanadu|'Madame Xanadu']], and [[Geo-Force|'Geo-Force']] to try and undo the spells Circe had woven. Circe had expected this, and planned on cultivating the energy from the spells the group was now casting—but her plan backfired and her spells were undone: yet the war continued. Circe had been betrayed by her ally [[Kaslak|'Kaslak']]. In addition to replacing the relics Circe needed for her spell, he also allowed [[Pythia|'Pythia']] into Circe's lair. Pythia managed to free her captured sisters as well as [[Julia Kapatelis|'Julia Kapatelis']]. Wonder Woman met back up with Batman, who had recovered the Goblet, but told her that it was, in fact, a forgery that had been coated with some unknown material. Diana followed the trail back to Egypt, were she discovered the temple of [[Bana-Mighdall|'Bana-Mighdall']] that she thought had been destroyed. There she found [[Lobo|'Lobo']] battling Shim'tar. When some more Rogue Amazons arrived, Diana had Lobo fight them while she tackled Shim'tar, demanding to know what had become of her mother. After a tough battle, Diana managed to strike Shim'tar to the ground—only to unmask her and find that it was none other than Hippolyta. Now the truth finally came together. [[Cheetah|'Cheetah']] had a confrontation with Edward Indelicato and explained the whole truth to him. While she had been in prison, Circe's minion Mikos came to her, transforming her permanently into the form of the Cheetah—although now, Minerva's mind remained fully in control. Circe was hardly benevolent, however, and insisted that Cheetah join her [[beastiamorph|'beastiamorph']] army. Cheetah was to help Kaslak steal the proper artifacts for Circe to cast her spell. This included the Goblet, which Circle resolved to switch with a fake that would suit her own ends. She engaged the remnants of the Rogue Amazons, all part of a plot to discredit Diana and Themyscira. She also hired [[Doctor Psycho|'Doctor Psycho']] to keep Diana distracted. When Hippolyta touched the fake goblet in Gotham, it transformed her into the new Shim'tar. Mikos removed Shim'tar from the building but failed to get the real goblet after [[Maxie Zeus|'Maxie Zeus']]'s assassins showed up, hired by Cheetah to try and double cross Circe. Philippus was attacked by one of the Rogue Amazons at the scene and witnessed Helene's death at the hands of the Cheetah. Time was running out for Wonder Woman. She tracked down Hermes, but he was unable (or unwilling) to heal Hippolyta, so Diana resolved to take her mother back to Paradise Island. She was attacked en route by fighters, but with the help of [[Starman|'Starman']] she managed to evade them. On the shores of Paradise Island, she would face Circe at last. Circe had fought her way through Hermes to get to Diana, but she would not simply kill the Amazon and risk [[Hecate|'Hecate']]'s curse. Cutting them off from other heroes gathered on the island (Starman, [[Hawkgirl|'Hawkgirl']], [[Aquaman|'Aquaman']], and [[Dolphin|'Dolphin']]), Circe used her magic to revert Diana back into the very same clay from which she was born. Having destroyed Wonder Woman, Circe departed, ready to grasp final victory. As the Amazons mourned their fallen princess, [[Superman|'Superman']] rallied Earth's heroes for the final battle. Diana was not dead—not completely. Her soul was collected by [[Phantom Stranger|'Phantom Stranger']], [[Spectre|'Spectre']], and [[Deadman|'Deadman']]. They told her that [[Klarion|'Klarion the Witch Boy']] had been responsible for disrupting Circe's spells. Superman, meanwhile, led the charge against Olympus itself, where the confused Greek and Roman pantheons were still committed to destroying each other. When Circe's deceptions were made clear, she was transported back to the limbo realm where she had slain Hermes. There she found [[Donna Troy|'Donna Troy']] and Wonder Woman—restored to life. Diana battled the evil witch, and this time her power was greater, for Hecate's power had left Circe. The witch was seemingly killed, but Hecate was denied Diana's soul. The gods decided to depart again, but the long war was finally over. The war had been costly. Much of Paradise Island was in ruins and would need to be rebuilt, and Menalippe and other Amazons had lost their lives. The United Nations, thankfully, fully exonerated Themyscira from all charges, and Queen Hippolyta was alive and well. Diana returned to the U.S. just in time to attend Vanessa's Junior High graduation. Conflict at Home and Beyond the Stars Wonder Woman was called to action by [[Superman|'Superman']] when [[Brainiac|'Brainiac']] seized control of [[Warworld|'Warworld']] and started to head for Earth. Superman decided that Earth could not wait for this invasion and had to launch a preemptive strike, so he recruited Diana and many of the world's other heroes. While [[Batman|'Batman']] gathered a team to defend Earth from any advanced warriors, Diana traveled with Superman and other heroes to Warworld to defeat Brainiac. Diana spent some time with [[Vanessa Kapatelis|'Vanessa']] and [[Julia Kapatelis|'Julia']], until she learned from [[Edward Indelicato|'Edward Indelicato']] that the [[Cheetah|'Cheetah']] had been captured in the Balkans, in a country called [[Pan Balgravia|'Pan Balgravia']], by their new president, Baron Von Nastraed. Diana contacted the god [[Proteus|'Proteus']] prior to leaving, enlisting his help to create a false identity, [[Diana Prince|'Diana Prince']]. Lacking knowledge of the region, she decided to enlist [[Deathstroke|'Deathstroke']] for help. Inspector Indelicato decided to come along as well. The first location that they were led to turned out to be a trap and they had to fight their way through some royal guards. Capturing one, Wonder Woman used her Lasso to learn that the Baron had secret and dummy prisons set up all over—and he also had mass graves. Diana and Slade went undercover to the finest restaurant in the country, where they managed to meet the Baron and get him to agree to another meeting. On the way to the meeting, Deathstroke announced that he was parting ways, prompting a fight between he and Wonder Woman that she won. After tossing Deathstroke in the trunk of the car and having Indelicato stand guard, she broke into the Baron's castle. The Baron was not as naive as they hoped, however, and was waiting for her with several demonic thugs. Deathstroke quickly recovered, however, and some of his "friends" showed up as backup. Wonder Woman was thrown in a magic cage but managed to force her way out. Barbara Minerva, reverted back to human form, was in the cell next to her, very weak from her long torment. She explained that the demon ruler needed a powerful female host for its mate. The Baron and his associate, Mr. Drax, began their demonic ritual as Deathstroke arrived on scene. As Wonder Woman fought the demon Drax, Deathstroke went after the Baron. Barbara, lapping up some spilled blood, reverted back into the Cheetah, and dove through the portal that Drax had opened, sealing it and destroying Drax in the process. The Baron vanished into thin air after Deathstroke plunged a dagger into him, and the nation was free again. Wonder Woman was prepared to testify at Indelicato's hearing, but no charges were filed against him. Outside the police station, Diana met a distraught woman who claimed her daughter had been kidnapped by her husband. The man in question got on the wrong side of some drug dealers who were shot and killed during a meeting he had with them, prompting him to grab a briefcase full of money (and his daughter) and run for it. The race was on to see if the police could catch up to him before mafiosi—but luckily, Diana made it there first, rescuing the little girl and preventing her from getting shot. Meanwhile, [[Doctor Psycho|'Doctor Psycho']] was still on the prowl, and he used his powers to continue to torment Vanessa in her dreams. Wonder Woman was approached by a man named [[Asquith Randolph|'Asquith Randolph']], the White Magician, for a mission that would take her into space, where she was needed to save the life of a female astronaut named [[Natasha Teranov|'Tasha']] on an experimental Russian spacecraft. When she was on board, Randolph detonated an explosive and the ship was catapulted through space. Diana managed to get it under control, but they were still rocketing into the unknown. After drifting for two weeks through space, their ship was salvaged—but their rescuers were only interested in making them slaves. The slavers stripped them of their clothing and equipment and dropped them on a prison world—a prison world populated entirely by females called [[Hope's End|'Hope's End']]. Tasha and Diana were bruised and battered—but not broken. They were prisoners on the planet for months, working in the quarries. A [[Khund|'Khund']] prisoner frequently fought Diana. There was another prisoner, an [[Julia of Daxam|'unnamed Daxamite']], who was kept in chains as a warning to the rest. After finally learning some of the other aliens' language, Diana learned their tormentors were called the [[Sangtee|'Sangtee']] and that they existed entirely as one gender for a century, then changed to the other. She finally managed to rally some of the other prisoners, destroying the Sangtee power station, capturing their starship, and freeing the imprisoned Daxamite. Taking up the role of a kind of space pirate, Diana worked hard, recruiting more ships and allies as she carved her way across the Sangtee Empire. One of her new friends created an artificial eye to replace one of the eyes the Daxamite lost. The new Daxamite was named Julia by Diana and she agreed to fight. Despite treachery from within, Diana was able to force a confrontation with the Sangtee emperor and get him (or her) to admit the folly of his people's ways. With some help from Julia, Diana finally was able to make it back home. Randolph had weaseled his way into the position of "Hero of Boston" during her absence. Diana did not return to Earth in time to prevent the [[Death of Superman|'Death of Superman']] or fight [[Doomsday|'Doomsday']]. The monster tore through [[Justice League|'Justice League']] before being put down by the Man of Steel—at the cost of Superman's own life. Diana gathered with past and present JLA members to mourn the death of their friend. She held a place of honor during his funeral procession, and was one of the people who actually closed the lid on the sarcophagus. Diana gathered with the other heroes to pay a last respect—every year on Christmas Eve, Superman read some of the thousands of pieces of mail directed to him. Diana found one letter thanking Superman for help, even though her house was destroyed and her husband had left her. While the others rebuilt the woman's house, Diana tracked down the husband, who was unaware of what had happened. The Justice League was in need of being rebuilt after Doomsday's rampage, so Wonder Woman agreed to come aboard as the new field leader. On her Own in the World Diana was shocked when she returned to Paradise Island to find it missing—the entire island was simply gone. Diana did not know what to make of it, so she went back to Boston and decided to get a job. Despite the fact that she was now leading the Justice League, and that she had apparently made a lot of money via merchandising thanks to Myndi Mayer, Diana resolved to look for a job in the classified ads. No one seemed interested in hiring Wonder Woman. She eventually got a job at [[Taco Whiz|'Taco Whiz']], presumably so she could better understand the common man (and woman). She also got her own apartment. Diana then met a man named [[Micah Rains|'Micah Rains']] who offered her a job (Rains was, according to [[Edward Indelicato|'Edward Indelicato']], a total "whackjob") as a kind of P.I. [[The White Magician|'The White Magician']] was careful to always be close by, stealing the limelight. Diana continued her work at Taco Whiz while desperately trying to make a difference in some people's lives. [[Doctor Fate|'Doctor Fate']], finally reached Wonder Woman and offered her help at discovering what had happened to Themyscira. The two went back to the location of the former island, where Fate was able to use a spell to let them see events of the last few moments of the island. It seemed that a golden statue in Diana's likeness washed up on the shore. The Amazons brought it before [[Queen Hippolyta|'Hippolyta']], but then something happened—a bright flash of light and an explosion—and the island was no more. Convinced her mother was dead, Diana knew that [[Circe|'Circe']] must be at fault. Doctor Fate was able to track her down, but when they arrived in Circe's lair, all they found were her remains—she was apparently killed in the same deadly spell she used to obliterate Paradise Island. Wonder Woman began to believe there was a connection between all the recent crimes that involved hi-tech gadgets. Diana began investigating. She also went out shopping with [[Etta Candy|'Etta Candy']] for a wedding dress and after Etta passed out she realized that her friend was starving herself to look thinner. While talking with Etta about it, the [[The Flash (Wally West)|'Flash']] showed up, warning Diana about a hit on her and that [[Mayfly|'Mayfly']] was the hitwoman. No sooner did he get out his warning when Mayfly showed up, guns blazing. With Etta and Flash's help, Diana managed to defeat Mayfly—but was shot in the process. While Diana recuperated in the hospital, Mayfly was murdered in her cell by an attorney named Donna Milton, who was working for Ares Buchanan, the supplier of the hi-tech arms and the one who hired Mayfly. Donna was carrying his child as well. Donna Milton then introduced herself to Diana, feeding her a tragic story of her life that caused Diana to remark "nearly every terrible thing that can happen to a woman has happened to you." Diana was quickly taken in by the charming Donna. Ares Buchanan was, naturally, an avatar for the god [[Ares|'Ares']], who was not so prepared to completely abandon the Earth. He had easily corrupted the [[The White Magician|'White Magician']], making him one of his lieutenants alongside Donna Milton. After weeks of friendship, Donna betrayed Wonder Woman to Ares. When Donna refused to let Ares torture her, however, he shot her and then prepared to shoot Diana. After a powerful spell from Ares, Diana was unable to break the chains that had bounded her. Donna, using one of Ares' weapons, created an explosion that left her and Diana plunging down hundreds of feet into a watery chamber beneath Ares' lair. The fall should have killed Donna but they survived and Donna went into labor. While Diana delivered the child, the White Magician contacted Ares's mafia boss, Sazia, letting him know that Ares Buchanan had died in the explosion and they had to act quickly to hold his power together. Sazia was not interested, however, and attempted to shoot the Magician, so the Magician killed him instead. The White Magician, whose powers were increasing because of his connection to a demonic realm, began to transform some of his lackeys into supervillains. One of them, [[Dreadnaught|'Dreadnaught']], attacked Diana at the hospital—another attacked the Kapatelis' house, kidnapping [[Vanessa Kapatelis|'Vanessa']] and seriously crippling [[Julia Kapatelis|'Julia']]. Wonder Woman was able to save put a stop to the White Magician before more of his thugs could kill [[Etta Candy|'Etta Candy']] and [[Steve Trevor|'Steve Trevor']]. Her patience having run out, Diana contacted some of the mafia men connected to the Magician and warned them they had one hour to return Vanessa unharmed. When they failed to comply, Diana began to tear apart the gang, tracking down all of their outfits and demolishing them, leaving the words "No quarter, no sanctuary" as she went. Mrs. Sazia, the new head of the Sazia crime family, decided to betray the Magician to get Diana off their back. Diana found the Magician's lair and rescued Vanessa, but the Magician himself was not there. Diana, plagued by nightmares, began to have doubt about her instability. She sought out [[Superman|'Superman']] and asked him to stop her if she ever got too out of control. Luckily, [[Doctor Fate|'Doctor Fate']] returned and told Diana that she had been having the same nightmares—dreams about the end of Themyschra. Replaying the spell that showed the end of the island, Diana guessed that maybe it hadn't really been destroyed—it was all a complex illusion created by [[Circe|'Circe']]. Diana unveiled Doctor Fate, who was really Circe in disguise (or at least, an illusion of her). Circe revealed that she had not destroyed Paradise Island, but rather she had found a way to relocate it to a realm of fire where the Amazons had been fighting for their lives every day since their imprisonment. Circe offered to return the island—if Diana sacrificed an innocent life. She gave her until midnight. Battling through Circe's illusions, Diana was unable to save the life of a young runaway named Cynthia who was struck and killed by a car. With her death, however, Paradise Island was restored. A New Contest, A New Wonder Woman Diana was elated—her home was back, her sisters were back, and her mother was back. [[Queen Hippolyta|'Hippolyta']] told Diana the whole story of what had happened. Circe had led the renegade [[Amazons of Bana-Mighdall|'Amazons of Bana-Mighdall']] to Paradise Island, stirring them up with dreams of conquest. They caught Hippolyta's Amazons completely off guard, and for two days there was nothing but bloody battle in the city. After it was too late, Circe's schemes became apparent. She used her magic to transport the entire island to another dimension, where the Amazons were set upon by demons. Both tribes of Amazons had to band together or die, and for ten years (in that realm) they fought against the demons. As a reward, Hippolyta bequeathed a section of the undeveloped part of the island to her sister's tribe. Now they were back, and the nightmare was over. Diana recounted everything she had done in the months since their absence—Hippolyta was not pleased. She felt Diana had wasted many opportunities to affect man's world as a whole. Hippolyta announced that she was not sure if she could trust Diana to represent the island anymore. Upset, Diana wandered away from the city with some friends, where she met [[Artemis of Bana-Mighdall|'Artemis']] for the first time. Diana was intrigued, if not particularly impressed, with the brash, arrogant young Amazon from the tribe of [[Antiope|'Antiope']]. As they were talking, word came that Hippolyta had made a decision—there would be a new contest, and perhaps a new Wonder Woman. Hippolyta meant to bar the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall from competing in the new contest, but she was overruled by a general vote among the Amazons. The Contest began, and Diana and Artemis quickly jumped out ahead. Artemis had to discipline one of her followers who tried to assassinate Diana during the middle of the Contest. Artemis did not think that anyone but Diana could truly win, and that the Contest was merely a means of Hippolyta getting at her daughter, but she was determined to keep her honor. Hippolyta disclosed to [[Philippus|'Philippus']] that she had activated ancient magics, bringing to life monsters to battle the champions. Diana and Artemis were neck and neck during the last sprint—but distracted by seeing her mother ahead, Diana stumbled and fell. Artemis won the Contest—and the role of Wonder Woman. Back to Basics Devastation of the Gods Down to Earth Eyes of the Gorgon Infinite Crisis Era One Year Later Amazons Attack and Beyond Blackest Night Odyssey False Memories Blood Guts Iron War Flesh Bones War-Torn Romance with Superman Trinity War and Forever Evil The Lies and The Truth Heart of the Amazon Children of the Gods and Swan's Song Amazons Attacked The Dark Gods Personality Romantic Relationships Powers and Abilities Powers Abilities Paraphernalia Equipment Transportation Weapons Trivia